DIMENSIONS: CONTEXT / Relationship
R E F E R E N C E S
State n. 1. the condition of a person or thing with respect to circumstances, qualities, etc.: a state of disrepair; in a terrible state. 2. condition with respect to structure, form, phase, etc.: water in a gaseous state; the larval state. 3. the status or dignity of a person. 4. a quality or condition that enhances or reflects one's dignity, rank, etc.: to travel in state. 5. a particular emotional condition: to be in a nervous state. 6. an agitated emotional condition: You are in a state, arenÍt you? 7. a politically unified population occupying a specific area of land; nation. 8. [sometimes cap.] any of the territories each with its own government,, that are combined under a federal government. 9. governmental activity or concern: affairs of state. 10. lie in state, [of a corpse] to be exhibited publicly with honors before burial. 11. the state, civil government as distinguished from individuals, ecclesiastical authority, etc. 12. the States, Informal, the United States. -adj. 13. of or pertaining to the central civil governemt or authority. 14. of, pertaining to, maintained by, or under the authority of one of the commonwealths that make up a federal union : a Texas state highway. 15. of a ceremonial nature or for ceremonial purposes. -v.t. 16. to declare or set forth, esp.in a precise, formal, or authoritative manner. 17. to say [something], esp. in an emphatic way; assert. [ME stat, partly var. of estat [see estate], partly < L stat(us) condition [see status]; in defs. 8-12 < L status (rérum) state of things or status (reí publicae) state of the republic]
-Syn. 1. STATE, CONDITION, SITUATION, STATUS are terms for existing circunstances or surroundings. STATE is the general word, often with no concrete implications or material relationships: the present state of affairs. CONDITION carries an implication of a relationship to causes and circunstances: The conditions made flying impossible. SITUATION suggests an arrangement of circunstances, related to one another and to the character of a person: He was master of the situation. STATUS carries offical or legal implications; it suggests a complete picture of interrelated circunstances as having to do with rank, position, standing, a stage reached in progress, etc.: the status of negotiations. 3. standing. 4. grandeur, magnificence. 16. specify.
[Urdang, Laurence, ed. Random House Dictionary of The English Language. New York: Random House, 1968.]
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